Planned Trump-Putin summit unlikely in ‘near future’
0
• Kremlin says there is no clear date, ‘serious preparation’ needed for summit
• Lack of decision on Tomahawks makes Russia less keen on diplomacy, says Zelensky
• European leaders call on Washington to hold firm in demanding immediate ceasefire in Ukraine
WASHINGTON/KYIV: A planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold on Tuesday, as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.
Trump has no immediate plans to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, a US official said on Tuesday, days after the American president said they would meet within two weeks in Budapest.
Trump had announced last week that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. But Putin has been unwilling to consider concessions. Moscow has long demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire.
Trump, who last week spoke by phone to Putin and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, had hoped for another high-profile session with the Russian leader after their August summit in Alaska failed to advance negotiations.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone on Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after Trump said that the two top diplomats would be meeting this week to arrange a Budapest summit.
“An additional in-person meeting between the secretary and foreign minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” a Trump administration official said on condition of anonymity. The official nonetheless termed the call between Rubio and Lavrov “productive”.
‘No clear date’
The Kremlin said there was no clear date and that “serious preparation” for a summit was needed and that may take time. “Listen, we have an understanding of the presidents, but we cannot postpone what has not been finalised,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Neither President Trump nor President Putin gave exact dates.” Asked if Moscow had an understanding of a possible date for the summit, Peskov said: “No, there is no understanding.”
Putin spoke by telephone on Thursday with Trump, who met the following day with the Ukrainian president to discuss providing US-made Tomahawk missiles that could penetrate deep into Russia.
Trump hailed the call as progress and quickly posted on social media that he would meet within two weeks with Putin in Budapest.
It marked the latest abrupt shift by Trump, who in August welcomed Putin to Alaska — his first time on Western soil since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
‘Lack of decision on Tomahawks’
The Ukrainian president, in his nightly address, said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” due to the postponement of a decision by the US administration on Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine.
Zelensky said he and had agreed that a starting point for talks would be with the two sides at their current positions on the battlefield.
“Instead, Russia is once again doing everything it can to abandon diplomacy,” Zelensky said.
“The greater the Ukrainian long-range capability, the greater the Russian willingness to end the war. These past few weeks have confirmed this once again,” Zelensky said.
The Tomahawks, he said, had become “a strong investment in diplomacy” and Ukraine would hold further discussions on long-range weapons with its European and US allies.
European leaders called on Washington on Tuesday to hold firm in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, with present battle lines to serve as the basis for any future talks.
In a statement, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and the EU said they “strongly support President’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations”.
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2025
